The present invention relates to a relay apparatus and, more particularly, to a relay apparatus for allowing various kinds of communication means to be used under a common environment.
Currently, along with the diversification of communication routes and media and the trend toward multimedia and sophisticated information, many communication terminals corresponding to these communication forms have been proposed. For example, portable terminals handle texts and images in the form of electronic mail as well as speech. Fixed telephone terminals are also following the same tendency.
In addition, as these communication terminals tend to handle multimedia information, functions provided for the communication terminals themselves increase in number and complexity to effectively use these pieces of information. The amount of information handled by each function also increases.
Furthermore, various types of communication lines have been provided for users, including, for example, ISDN lines, ADSL lines, and optical cable lines as well as general telephone lines (analog telephone lines) to which fixed telephone terminals are connected.
Such communication means as communication terminals and communication lines are, however, independent means respectively connected to different communication routes or communication media, and hence have unique specifications. This makes it impossible for a user to efficiently and effectively use a plurality of communication means.
For example, some communication terminals are designed to handle the same kind of information. However, such terminals differ in their operation methods and functions depending on the types or makers of terminals. When, therefore, a user is to use a plurality of communication terminals, he/she must properly use the communication terminal upon grasping the operation methods and functions of the respective communication terminals. This imposes a heavy workload on the user.
This applies to the case of communication lines. A user must properly use terminals corresponding to the respective lines, resulting in a load on the user.
Furthermore, communication information such as communication partner information or communication contents handled in each communication terminal is independently managed by each communication terminal. This makes it impossible for a user to commonly and effectively use such management information. The user must copy a telephone directory or make matching among a plurality of telephone numbers. This imposes a heavy management load on the user.
This applies to the case of communication lines. As information for identifying the same communication partner, different pieces of identification information such as a telephone number and network address must be used depending on communication lines. A heavy load is therefore placed on the user.